Wegmans,

9102 Shops Way,
Northborough, MA 01532

Ever since Wegmans opened in Northborough, Massachusetts we’d planned to go there.  The chain is famous for the quality and variety of its foods, and once, traveling through Pennsylvania, we passed a Wegmans supermarket, and were tempted by its fabled wonder, but our itinerary dragged us away. 

Now we have a Wegmans nearer home, and it was an opportunity to be seized. Heading west on Route 9, we took an exit onto Route 20 toward Northborough, and made the next right onto Shops Way.  There it was.

I’ve always loved markets.  I’ve wandered plazas in Mexico where women spread homegrown chilies on blankets. I’ve explored the souks of Morocco and the tropical markets of Thailand.  I’ve been to grocery stores in the American south where they sold two kinds of bread and twenty brands of chewing tobacco.  I’ve been dazzled by the food shops of France.  Our American supermarkets are nothing to be scorned, and Wegmans are some of the best.  Wear your walking shoes; the place is huge.  The variety is enormous. You can find the products you use every day and many you seldom see. 

They say that they keep prices low on family items, and it seems to me that on average you do well.  We bought shampoo and bananas at good prices, but Teddy All Natural Peanut Butter is cheaper at Market Basket. I noticed they were offering Wegmans brand butter for $2.00 a pound.  I was sorry I’d just stocked up on Market Basket Butter in New Bedford for the same price.  I don’t know that Wegmans is any better, but it’s classier. 

American sturgeon caviar is offered for $69.95 an once.  I didn’t know if this was a good deal or not, but I later found the product offered by Amazon.com for $64.19 plus $27.37 shipping.  Amazon says its price is 71% off a list price of $157.02 per once. I’d say Wegmans is being reasonable. 

The fish in their fish department glisten with freshnes. They have an impressive assortment of cheeses.  Wegmans doesn’t offer the hazelnut honey Annette had seen in Martha Stewart Magazine, so she had to keep looking, but they had an assortment of organic honeys from which to choose.

They have a great bakery, and I loved simply inhaling the aroma as I strolled by the donuts and Danish, and I looked longingly at the ham, sausage, and bacon as well as the aged prime beef in their meet department.  For a man whose cardiologist has warned him against calories, animal fat, and salt, Wegmans is Fantasyland. 

One pleasure the doctor allows is red wine, and Wegmans claims to have 2000 wines for under $10 in their spacious liquor department. I bought some low-priced Cabernet Sauvignon I find drinkable on an everyday basis.  It’s great to know I can purchase Bordeaux futures at the same place I bought a can of beans and a bagel. 

They have a spacious café section where you can buy all sorts of goodies to enjoy on the premises.  They’re tempting, so err on the lesser side; you can always go back for more, and if you miss your usual doggie bag, you can fill a box to take home. 

Wegmans may not have a better liquor store than Lukes in Brockton, which claims to have New England’s largest wine room.  Their meat may not be fancier than Savanor’s on Charles Street in Boston, Formaggio’s Kitchen in Cambridge has a better selection of cheese, and you may know a bakery you like better than Wegmans, but the store gets best of show in one-stop shopping. 

Nowhere in New England can you park your car and wander through such a array.  If you want to find groceries cheaper than they cost at your neighborhood store, you certainly can.  If you want to look longingly at treats that are out of your price range, you can do that too.  If you’re a lover of fine food and drink, the sheer availability of it may send your brain into overload, and your eyes may be glazed with awe.